One thing most people don't realize is that if you are arrested, an "Arrested Bit" is set in the State and Federal crime databases. Once set, this bit is immutable and can't ever be cleared. You are permananently marked as a "troublemaker" in the eyes of law enforcement. You are a very lucky person (and somewhat rare) if you die with your "Arrested Bit" cleared.
How many C-level corporate types, lobbyists, and IP lawyers use their blackberries to send their orders^H^H^H^H^H^H messages to the government types? Maybe they should push for a patent examption for all the C-levels, lobbyists, lawyers, and high level government officials?
Having a blackberry and a lot of money is the sign of someone who is in the ruling class.
I feel sorry for the MEP's as the well-connected call them on the phone in the wee hours of the morning to try and persuade them not to vote against the bill.
If this is rejected then I have a paraphrase from Star Wars Eposode IV: "Don't underestimate the lobbyists, they'll be back and in greater numbers"
2. Be potted with an auto-destruct mechanism if tampering is detected. Better yet, tempering would be reported, and the cops would automatically be called.
3. Have an internet connection and modem to authorize playback each time with the "content mothership".
4. Use proprietary non-standard optical disks with no encryption keys stored on the disk. Every disk made would be encrypted with a unique,random key. Disks would be which are serialized. And when you purchase them, a passport, and a DNA sample would be required and the passport info would be entered into the master database.
5. Have a smart card for renewable security. The smart card would also auto-destruct on tamper detection.
Don't be too surprised if you find a line on the 2004 state and federal tax return to declare the amount of fuel you brewed so that they can assess back road taxes.
Not if India becomes a corporate quasi-democracy like the US. They'll lobby against all such changes.
Mark my words, in the next 2 or 3 decades, the world will be comprised of corporate states which have a "democracy facade", but will ignore the will of the people when it comes to employment law. In such states, the only way employment law will change for the better is if there is social unrest.
Re:Perhaps Google ought to consider this...
on
Google IPO Swami
·
· Score: 1
Something doesn't sound right in your statement above. Last time I checked, common stock HAS voting rights and that's what is usually distributed to the masses. Preferred stock usually doesn't have voting rights, but it is considered before common stock in the event of bankruptcy.
As for your statement on non-voting stock, it seems to me you have it reversed. The general public DOES own most of the voting stock.
As for employees doling out stock options, these are almost always common stock. Preferred stock is usually reserved for top management, and investors.
You are right about Google's dilemma regarding going public. The feds say there are now too many minority shareholders and this is what is forcing them to do the IPO.
What sticks in my craw is that me as an investor will not get the same per-share voting rights as an insider. Because of this I will not invest in Google. I can invest my money elsewhere without this kind of BS. Google and a few "media" companies are employing this tactic of lopsided voting rights to see if they can pull the wool over the eyes of the investing public. I conclude this gives management too much power. You implied that investors will force the company to do something "evil" and results-oriented? Do I want a laid-back management team responsible for ensuring I get a return on my investment when they know they can blatently ignore the interests of the shareholders?
To me this sounds like whole IPO thing is bad for Google and bad for the new investors who buy Google stock.
Re:Perhaps Google ought to consider this...
on
Google IPO Swami
·
· Score: 1
Precisely. This lopsided voting structure is the reason why I won't touch Google's stock.
Google == Bad Investment == Stacked Deck
on
Google IPO Swami
·
· Score: 1
Did you know that there are 2 classes of shares and the series management holds gets 10x the voting rights of the shares being auctioned off.
Management gets to do what it wishes-- shareholders be damned.
I don't know about you, but this analogous to being handcuffed in the back of a police car.
Heh. Liberal Europeans! Extradite him to the US, there he'll get what he deserves: A system reboot package! (US $10E6 fine and 20 years in in the Marion federal prison).
There's probably little that the citizens of Australia or the United States can do to stop this. Look what happened in Europe with DMCA-like laws.
Regrettably, the holders of IP are untouchable. They have too much power. They control the media, they contribute huge sums of money to campaigns to get polititians elected, and they have access to databases that the average citizen could only dream of.
These IP issues will not go away by writing your elected representatives. The only way this problem will go away is if the world polarizes into two superpowers once again. One side encumbering IP with a byzantine tomb of laws and the other side having only basic IP laws. The two blocs won't trade with each other. Unfortunately, this probably doesn't bode well for citizens english-speaking countries: US, Europe, Canada, and Australia because these countries will be saddled with the onerous laws.
There was a talk show recently on our local PBS station which had an interview with the author of a book about an American empire and the fall of the republic. The way he sees it is that the US is a "cloaked empire" run by the rich and influential with the aim of bringing the entire world under its complete control. Why do you think the US insists on having hundreds of military bases scattered all over the planet? Why do you think the US wants to deny other countries access to space?
Given this model, one day in the not to distant future, I can see a day that once a treaty like this is ratified by the US and a coerced country implements it, the US will invade the country if it breaks the treaty and do a "regime change"
Any corporation with 60 billion in the bank is not serving it's shareholders, has too much financial clout, and is distorting the free market with that clout. I say we implement a worldwide corporate wealth tax. This will force the these mega corps. to either invest the money in R&D, or return it as a dividend to the shareholders. Maybe the tax would work like this:
If you have enough money in the bank to operate for longer than 2 years with no income at your current expense levels, the difference over those expense levels would be forfieted and collected as a tax unless you either: 1. Prove you are investing it in R&D, or 2: Have an irrevokable plan to return it to the shareholders.
This treaty is not being created to bring other countries in line. It is being created to do an end-run around the US constitution to bypass the fair use provisions in the copyright. You see, ratified treaties can take precedence over things written into the constitution. Only one other country needs to ratify it in addition to the US and fair use will be trumped. IOTW: THIS TREATY IS DESIGNED TO ENFORCE THE BROADCAST FLAG HERE IN THE US.
Maybe timeclocks should be sealed like scales are at the grocery store, and the data should be uploaded to the state labor relation board on a daily basis for archival and to provide a unalterable audit trail when someone has a dispute.
You were lucky that the top bosses were not involved, else it would have been you who were sacked. By all indications, you have found a good place to work.
Here in America, typically it is rotten all the way to the top. Most likely they would have fired you and then initiated a civil lawsuit for tampering with company equipment to make an example to others not to do this.
As soon as this came close to passing in Congress, and the President were to sign it. America would experience its first Coup-de-tat, and we would become a dictatorship run by the mega corporations. These guys are just too powerful. They'll tolerate democracy just as long as it doen't interfere with thier financial models.
Wait until some offshore company starts keeping records on everyone in the US. They wouldn't be subject to US law and could keep any information they liked in their databases.
For example, corporations would likely use this offshore information to make hiring decisions, and if there was incorrect or derogatory information in it, no US court could suboena the offsore company to produce the data.
I would not be suprised if this law is pre-empted by a up and coming watered-down federal "anti-spam" law with no teeth which will not help the spam problem in any way.
The elite run this country, not the commoners (i.e. you and me).
I just read in EE times (10/25 edition) that there is a group working on a next generation DVD standard using a violet laser to pack 27.4GB on 1 side. They want to encrypt the data stream all the way to the monitor!
If I were a movie studio exec I would persue the following plan of action to eliminate this compromise to the DVD encryption scheme:
Release a new standard which is able to play all existing DVD discs and a "new" format with stronger encryption (ala DIVX 3DES?). Some government lobbying might be required to exempt the stronger encryption from export rules, but since the hardware can't be used to encode messages an exemption might prove fairly easy to obtain.
Contine to release all current titles in "standard definition", but restrict all "high definition" titles to the new standard.
Slashdot Mirror
One thing most people don't realize is that if you are arrested, an "Arrested Bit" is set in the State and Federal crime databases.
Once set, this bit is immutable and can't ever be cleared. You are permananently marked as a "troublemaker" in the eyes of law enforcement. You are a very lucky person (and somewhat rare) if you die with your "Arrested Bit" cleared.
First, Policy:
Posted at the entrance to a store:
Persons impersonating store employees will be prosecuted for trespassing.
Later, Lobbyists:
Will introduce federal legislation to make this this kind of thing a felony.
How many C-level corporate types, lobbyists, and IP lawyers use their blackberries to send their orders^H^H^H^H^H^H messages to the government types? Maybe they should push for a patent examption for all the C-levels, lobbyists, lawyers, and high level government officials?
Having a blackberry and a lot of money is the sign of someone who is in the ruling class.
Blackberry+Money==Well_Connected
I feel sorry for the MEP's as the well-connected call them on the phone in the wee hours of the morning to try and persuade them not to vote against the bill.
If this is rejected then I have a paraphrase from Star Wars Eposode IV: "Don't underestimate the lobbyists, they'll be back and in greater numbers"
"They" would never allow that to pass in Congress.
[Sarcasm]
1. A built in display
2. Be potted with an auto-destruct mechanism if tampering is detected. Better yet, tempering would be reported, and the cops would automatically be called.
3. Have an internet connection and modem to authorize playback each time with the "content mothership".
4. Use proprietary non-standard optical disks with no encryption keys stored on the disk. Every disk made would be encrypted with a unique,random key. Disks would be which are serialized. And when you purchase them, a passport, and a DNA sample would be required and the passport info would be entered into the master database.
5. Have a smart card for renewable security. The smart card would also auto-destruct on tamper detection.
6. Have no digital or analog outputs.
Use a non-standard optical encoding method.
Don't allow PC's to play disks.
Players refuse to play unencrypted content.
Use a smartcard to do all authorization.
Require an internet connection or phone line
to authorize playback each time a disk is loaded.
Don't store any keys on the disk.
Build the display into the player.
Pot the inside of the player with a potting compound which when compromized, causes the player to burst into flames.
This outfit http://www.permabit.com/ are selling a commercial solution similar to whatis being proposed.
Don't be too surprised if you find a line on the 2004 state and federal tax return to declare the amount of fuel you brewed so that they can assess back road taxes.
Not if India becomes a corporate quasi-democracy like the US. They'll lobby against all such changes.
Mark my words, in the next 2 or 3 decades, the world will be comprised of corporate states which have a "democracy facade", but will ignore the will of the people when it comes to employment law. In such states, the only way employment law will change for the better is if there is social unrest.
Something doesn't sound right in your statement above. Last time I checked, common stock HAS voting rights and that's what is usually distributed to the masses. Preferred stock usually doesn't have voting rights, but it is considered before common stock in the event of bankruptcy.
As for your statement on non-voting stock, it seems to me you have it reversed. The general public DOES own most of the voting stock.
As for employees doling out stock options, these are almost always common stock. Preferred stock is usually reserved for top management, and investors.
You are right about Google's dilemma regarding going public. The feds say there are now too many minority shareholders and this is what is forcing them to do the IPO.
What sticks in my craw is that me as an investor will not get the same per-share voting rights as an insider. Because of this I will not invest in Google. I can invest my money elsewhere without this kind of BS. Google and a few "media" companies are employing this tactic of lopsided voting rights to see if they can pull the wool over the eyes of the investing public. I conclude this gives management too much power. You implied that investors will force the company to do something "evil" and results-oriented? Do I want a laid-back management team responsible for ensuring I get a return on my investment when they know they can blatently ignore the interests of the shareholders?
To me this sounds like whole IPO thing is bad for Google and bad for the new investors who buy Google stock.
Precisely. This lopsided voting structure is the reason why I won't touch Google's stock.
Did you know that there are 2 classes of shares and
the series management holds gets 10x the voting rights of the shares being auctioned off.
Management gets to do what it wishes-- shareholders be damned.
I don't know about you, but this analogous to being handcuffed in the back of a police car.
I wouldn't touch this with a 1 parsec pole.
Heh. Liberal Europeans! Extradite him to the US, there he'll get what he deserves: A system reboot package! (US $10E6 fine and 20 years in in the Marion federal prison).
There's probably little that the citizens of Australia or the United States can do to stop this. Look what happened in Europe with DMCA-like laws.
Regrettably, the holders of IP are untouchable. They have too much power. They control the media, they contribute huge sums of money to campaigns to get polititians elected, and they have access to databases that the average citizen could only dream of.
These IP issues will not go away by writing your elected representatives. The only way this problem
will go away is if the world polarizes into two superpowers once again. One side encumbering IP with a byzantine tomb of laws and the other side having only basic IP laws. The two blocs won't trade with each other. Unfortunately, this probably doesn't bode well for citizens english-speaking countries: US, Europe, Canada, and Australia because these countries will be saddled with the onerous laws.
There was a talk show recently on our local PBS station which had an interview with the author of
a book about an American empire and the fall of the republic. The way he sees it is that the US is a "cloaked empire" run by the rich and influential with the aim of bringing the entire world under its complete control. Why do you think the US insists on having hundreds of military bases scattered all over the planet? Why do you think the US wants to deny other countries access to space?
Given this model, one day in the not to distant future, I can see a day that once a treaty like this is ratified by the US and a coerced country implements it, the US will invade the country if it breaks the treaty and do a "regime change"
Any corporation with 60 billion in the bank is not serving it's shareholders, has too much financial clout, and is distorting the free market with that clout. I say we implement a worldwide corporate wealth tax. This will force the these mega corps. to either invest the money in R&D, or return it as a dividend to the shareholders. Maybe the tax would work like this:
If you have enough money in the bank to operate for longer than 2 years with no income at your current expense levels, the difference over those
expense levels would be forfieted and collected as a tax unless you either: 1. Prove you are investing it in R&D, or 2: Have an irrevokable plan to return it to the shareholders.
Heh. A nice lucrative new way to profit for Motorola, GE, etc, and I can see the California bond ballot initiatives now...
"Pass this bond, or we might not be able to respond to your 911 call due to interference on our county radio system"
This treaty is not being created to bring other countries in line. It is being created to do an end-run around the US constitution to bypass the fair use provisions in the copyright. You see, ratified treaties can take precedence over things written into the constitution. Only one other country needs to ratify it in addition to the US and fair use will be trumped. IOTW: THIS TREATY IS DESIGNED TO ENFORCE THE BROADCAST FLAG HERE IN THE US.
Maybe timeclocks should be sealed like scales are at the grocery store, and the data should be uploaded to the state labor relation board on a daily basis for archival and to provide a unalterable audit trail when someone has a dispute.
You were lucky that the top bosses were not involved, else it would have been you who were sacked. By all indications, you have found a good place to work.
Here in America, typically it is rotten all the way to the top. Most likely they would have fired you and then initiated a civil lawsuit for tampering with company equipment to make an example to others not to do this.
As soon as this came close to passing in Congress, and the President were to sign it. America would experience its first Coup-de-tat, and we would become a dictatorship run by the mega corporations. These guys are just too powerful. They'll tolerate democracy just as long as it doen't interfere with thier financial models.
This is nothing.
Wait until some offshore company starts keeping records on everyone in the US. They wouldn't be subject to US law and could keep any information they liked in their databases.
For example, corporations would likely use this offshore information to make hiring decisions, and if there was incorrect or derogatory information in it, no US court could suboena the offsore company to produce the data.
Wo ever said the US is a direct democracy? We're a representative democracy, and until this changes,
expect the status quo to continue.
Madison was wrong.
I would not be suprised if this law is pre-empted by a up and coming watered-down federal "anti-spam" law with no teeth which will not help the spam problem in any way.
The elite run this country, not the commoners (i.e. you and me).
I just read in EE times (10/25 edition) that
there is a group working on a next generation
DVD standard using a violet laser to pack 27.4GB
on 1 side. They want to encrypt the data stream
all the way to the monitor!
See:
http://www.eet.com/story/industry/systems_and_s
and
http://www.eet.com/story/industry/systems_and_s
If I were a movie studio exec I would persue the
following plan of action to eliminate this
compromise to the DVD encryption scheme:
Release a new standard which is able to
play all existing DVD discs and a "new" format
with stronger encryption (ala DIVX 3DES?). Some
government lobbying might be required to exempt
the stronger encryption from export rules, but since the hardware can't be used to encode messages an exemption might prove fairly easy to
obtain.
Contine to release all current titles in
"standard definition", but restrict all
"high definition" titles to the new standard.